What He Never Knew
by Criala
Summary: The Akatsuki are after Naruto and Criala Hatake is kidnapped. What will happen?
1. After Naruto

This is a rewrite of an old story that I wrote a long time ago.  
For the most part, it's the same story line.  
I'm just making it longer, and hopefully, better.  
I hope you all enjoy it.

******Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't need to write Itachi Uchiha stories, hehe. Only Criala and the story plot belong to me. **

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A young girl frowned as she listened to the Jounins talk about the Akatsuki being after Naruto, or more specifically which Akatsuki members were after him. Her blue eyes glanced at the black haired male, dressed in all black, who stood beside her. Her white/silver hair hung down to her mid-back in two ponytails. A dress outfit with a white floor pattern adorned her body. It wrapped over her chest with no sleeves and the skirt went to her knees with slits all the up to her hips. Dark gray shorts could be seen under her skirt.

He had his fists clenched hard at his sides.

"Sasuke?" She asked softly, looking at him with concern, reaching out to touch his shoulder gently. She could feel him trembling beneath her fingers.

He said nothing to her, shrugging her hand off of his shoulder and gritting his teeth harder together.

She bit her lip, and then looked back to the door when it opened enough for the adults in the room to see the teens standing there.

It only took a couple of seconds for Sasuke to take off though.

"Sasuke!" She called out, turning to see his back disappearing from sight. She glanced at the Jounins, before darting after him. "Hey! Wait up, Sasuke!"

"Criala!" One of the male Jounins, a man with spiky gray hair and his headband covering his left eye, called out.

She didn't pay attention to him; she just continued after Sasuke. Her concern was on him right now. Soft pants escaped her mouth as she ran. The metal attached to the cloth of her Konoha headband bounced up and down, hitting her collarbone. Sasuke was much faster than her, and had a lot more stamina, so it didn't take long for her to lose sight of him.

"Okay… Which way did he go?" She murmured, glancing around to see each possible direction Sasuke could have gone. She sighed when she noticed that was pretty much every possible direction. "This is going to take a while…"

xXx

And Criala was right. It did take her quite a bit of time to find where Sasuke had gone. She ended getting lost for a brief period of time which only further delayed her trying to find him.

"Finally…" She panted, having caught a glimpse of Sasuke running through the small town she'd just found. "Some sight of him…" She took a couple of seconds to catch her breath before going in the direction she had seen Sasuke going. Her legs carried her up the steps of the Inn, stopping when she got around the corner at the beginning of the stairs. "Hmm, I think Sasuke went his way…"

The sight that she saw made her eyes widen. She had turned the corner to see a man whom had black hair, he was clad in a black cloak with red clouds on it, drop Sasuke on the floor. But upon taking a closer look at the ma, she realized that it was Itachi Uchiha. He was Sasuke's older brother and a member of the most dangerous organization in the ninja world. The Akatsuki.

Naruto was currently trying to get past another man who wore the same cloak as Itachi. Only his skin was blue and his face looked like that of a shark. He was Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi's Akatsuki partner. He wasn't letting Naruto get by him to help Sasuke with Itachi. Sasuke was even telling Naruto to butt out of it and not to help him.

"Naruto!" She called out, running over to him. The two Akatsuki members had lost her attention after she had caught sight of Naruto. "You're alright!"

"Of course I'm alright." Naruto looked at her in confusion, tilting his head to the side.

Itachi briefly glanced back at the young girl and the Kyubi. She appeared to be close to the Kyubi. He might be able to use that to his advantage.

"I heard that the Akatsuki was after you, so I followed Sasuke here!" She explained, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. "I was worried!"

"Aw, I'm alright, Cri-chan!" Naruto grinned, hugging her back.

"I'm so glad…" She murmured, feeling very relieved that he was alright. She pulled back from the hug and turned around to see that Kisame and Itachi had disappeared from sight. Sasuke was lying limply on the floor, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. And the hallway looked like it was inside of a toad's stomach thanks to Jiraiya. But it was slowly returning to normal. "Where'd they go?"

"I don't know!" Naruto was starting to freak out. "They were here just a second ago!"

"I know…" Criala blinked and quickly looked around the hallway. They weren't anywhere to be found. They really were gone just like that.

xXx

Gai had already arrived, having almost attacked Jiraiya because he was using his headband to see around the corner of the wall, so he hadn't been able to tell who it was. He had Sasuke, who was now unconscious, on his back. He was also trying to give Naruto a green jumpsuit just like the ones he and Rock Lee wore.

"Don't do it, Naruto!" Criala cried out to Naruto, tugging it from his hands and ripping it into little pieces.

Naruto blinked at her, confused. "Okay… And are you sure you don't wanna come back with us, Cri-chan?"

She nodded her head, smiling at him. "Yeah, I think I'm going to get something to eat before I head back to the village. Don't worry Naruto, I'll be fine. Just go on ahead, you guys."

Naruto eyed her for a moment and shrugged. "Well, alright. See you, Cri-chan!"

She smiled at him again, waving to him. "See you."

With that, Naruto darted off with Jiraiya and Gai to head back to Konoha.

"Where to eat…" Criala murmured to herself, walking through the town to check out any possible places to eat. After wandering around for a little while, she finally decided on a small ramen shop that she passed by. It wasn't as good as Ichiraku's. Then again, no place could have ramen that was as good as Ichiraku's. But it was food and it would tide her over until she got back to Konoha. She ate the bowl of chicken ramen that she ordered and paid once she was done. Then she was on her way back to Konoha.

It wasn't very far out of the town when she suddenly felt like someone was watching her. There was also a strange presence nearby, but she couldn't sense exactly where it was coming from. Her pace slowed until she came to a stop. She cautiously looked around the surrounding area. Nothing appeared to be wrong or out of place. But things aren't always what they seem. She was just getting ready to start her pace back up when something hit a pressure point, causing her to go unconscious and collapse backwards into what felt like someone's arms.

The next time she awoke, she was in a dark room, laying on something soft. Upon looking down at it, she saw that it was a black futon bed. She frantically looked around the room, only remembering the hit to her pressure point before she had collapsed.

"Wh-Where am I?" She asked herself softly. She was terrified, considering she had no idea where she was. She didn't know who had captured to her and she wasn't that strong.

"Where you are is not important." A calm, cool male voice spoke.

She jumped. The sudden voice startled her. Shakily, she turned her gaze to where she heard the voice come from.

There stood a young male with black hair, tied back in a low ponytail. A Konoha forehead protector was worn on his forehead, only there was a slash going through the Konoha symbol. He had red Sharingan eyes. He was wearing a black cloak with red clouds. You couldn't really tell what was under the cloak, except for a small part of the grayish shirt he had on under it. The top of the cloak was opened just a little bit.

Her eyes widened as it registered in her mind just who he was. He was one of the Akatsuki members that were after Naruto… The one that Sasuke had been fighting earlier… Itachi Uchiha. Why did he grab her though? What use could she be to him?

"Wh-What do you want with me?" She quietly asked, staring at him fearfully. Her heart was going a mile a minute, and she was scared to know what his answer he might be.

A slight chuckle escaped his throat. "You're bait to lure out the Kyubi."

"The Kyubi?" A look of confusion merged with her look of fear.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Was all he said.

"Wh-Why would you want me to get to him?" She asked.

Itachi merely watched her for a moment. Then he turned around, leaving the room without giving her an answer.

'Well… That was very rude of him.' She thought to herself, placing her hand over her chest. Her heart was beginning to calm down now. She laid back against the futon. Now all she could do was wait for him to come back. Maybe Naruto would notice she hadn't gotten back to the village and they would come to rescue her.


	2. Kidnapped

Well, here is chapter two!  
Hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I can only imagine the things I could do if I owned Naruto. Only Criala and the story plot belong to me. **

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"You what, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, almost dropping his book on the ground, staring at Naruto in shock. He couldn't believe what he just heard.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, glancing to the side at the ground. "She said she'd be fine…" He muttered.

"Why didn't you stop her?" He asked, gripping his book tightly.

"It wasn't just me! Ero-sennin and Bushybrows-sensei were there too…" Naruto pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and looking off to the other side.

Kakashi's one visible eyebrow twitched. He couldn't believe it. Well… Naruto he could believe. Once he thought about it more, the other two made sense as well. Jiraiya was like an adult Naruto, only a way bigger pervert. And Gai… Well, once he was excited, he didn't think or plan much.

Kakashi let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose to calm himself down. If he wasn't calm, he wouldn't be able to think of a way to find her. He had to be calm for her sake. And no one responsible had been there. The only one who would have been was Sasuke and he'd been unconscious.

"We gotta get her back!" Naruto exclaimed, tugging at his hair, starting to panic. "What if Akatsuki has her? Oh God! Wh-What if they try to eat her or boil her in oil for dinner? What if they cut off her feet so she can't run away? Or her hands so she can't do jutsu?" He was now running back and forth, holding his head in his hands.

Kakashi just stared at Naruto as he ran back and forth. "Naruto… Calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down? How can I calm down when Cri-chan could be in the clutches of the Akatsuki?" Naruto shrieked, pulling at his hair again. "When they could be torturing her? Or worse, murdering her?"

Kakashi let out a sigh. "I know why you're worked up, Naruto. I understand it. But you have to keep calm, so we can think of a plan."

"How the hell can you expect me to keep calm?" Naruto shouted, staring at Kakashi like he was crazy. "What kind of father are you? Aren't you worried?"

Kakashi rubbed his temple with his index and middle fingers. "Of course I'm worried, Naruto. But, instead of panicking, I'm trying to come up with a plan to find her."

"How can you not panic?" Naruto twitched a little bit, nearly pulling all of the hairs on his head out.

"I'm better at keeping calm than you are." Kakashi pointed out with a shrug. Wasn't it obvious?

"But it's your daughter! How can you be calm?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyebrow twitching even more. He just couldn't understand how Kakashi was so calm, how he wasn't panicking. It was beyond him.

"Naruto… You are wasting valuable time. We could be planning to go get her and look for her." Kakashi told him, not phased at all by anything that Naruto was saying. Naruto was just upset and worried about her. "And I'm calm so I can think of a plan."

"Fine." Naruto muttered, slumping and looking off to the side.

"Good." Kakashi nodded. "Now… We need to gather a team so we can come up with our plan." With the Third Hokage having just died and them not having a Fifth Hokage yet, there was really no one for them to consult about it. The Elders were very busy since there was no Hokage currently. Everyone would be going to them since there was no Hokage.

xXx

"What?" The boy asked, looking at Kakashi. He had black eyes and brown hair that he had up in a ponytail. He wore a green vest much like the Jounin ones. But he wasn't a Jounin.

"I need your help, Shikamaru." Kakashi said, not giving any more details than needed, which currently were none. There were other people around and there was no need to cause an uproar.

He looked at him suspiciously. "With what?"

"I'll fill you in once you come with me." Kakashi replied.

Shikamaru thought about it for a moment, then sighed, getting up. "What a drag…" He muttered to himself, looking at Kakashi. "Alright."

Kakashi left with Shikamaru, everyone looking at the two of them curiously. They were wondering what the Jounin needed the Chunnin for.

Once they were away from people, Shikamaru glanced at Kakashi. "So, what do you need my help with?"

Kakashi glanced away from his book to Shikamaru, then back at his book. "Criala is missing."

Shikamaru nodded his head, it not quite registering right away who Kakashi said was missing. "Wait… What?" He asked, looking at Kakashi with wide eyes once his mind processed the words. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. I am very serious." Kakashi replied. "She never came back with Naruto, Gai and Jiraiya when they brought Sasuke back."

"Do you have any idea where she might be?" He asked.

"The last place they saw her was where Sasuke found Naruto and the Akatsuki." Kakashi answered.

Shikamaru nodded, starting to think. "We should probably check out the area…" He thought out loud, rubbing his chin in thought. "Kiba or Akamaru might be able to detect her scent…"

Kakashi nodded his head. "That would be a good idea. Let's go get Kiba."

The two of them made their way to Kiba's. Naruto, he'd finally been able to calm down, was off trying to find Neji or someone else that might be able to help them. With no Hokage, most of the Jounins would be busy with the problems caused by that issue. The few that weren't would be busy with their students.

Kakashi and Shikamaru found Kiba training with Hinata, Shino and Kurenai at the training grounds. She was one of the few not busy Jounins.

Kurenai looked over when she heard someone approaching. "Kakashi."

"Kurenai." He nodded his head to her, walking over to her.

"What's up?" She asked, looking up at him since he was taller than her.

"Can I borrow Kiba from you?" He asked in return, glancing at her students who were watching them.

She raised her eyebrow. "Sure. But what for?"

Kakashi lowered his voice for only Kurenai to hear. "Criala has gone missing."

A gasp left her lips. "What?" She stared at him with wide, shocked eyes. "How'd that happen?"

"She followed Sasuke when he heard that Itachi Uchiha had been after Naruto. She'd overheard it as well and I'm thinking she was worried about Naruto. The Akatsuki may have kidnapped her." Kakashi explained, still only loud enough for her too hear. They didn't need Kurenai's other students panicking. Kiba would probably end up panicking enough for the whole team once he found out.

"I see.." She breathed. She couldn't believe it. Criala was possibly kidnapped by the Akatsuki. Just how was Kakashi so calm about it? His daughter could be in the hands of the most evil organization around. "How are you calm?"

"I'm not as calm as I appear, Kurenai." Kakashi told her, glancing up at the sky. He really wasn't as calm as he appeared. Inside he was really a wreck. He didn't know if Criala was injured or not. He just knew he had to keep himself together so he could get her back as fast as possible. "I'm not calm because I'm not worried… I'm calm because I have to be."

Kurenai looked at him with sympathy and understanding. She would hate to be in his shoes. To have his daughter missing and have no idea where she was or what was happening to her… With no control over it. But she understood now why he wasn't panicking. Having to force himself to be calm so he could be able to figure out a way to help her.

"Anyways… I'll have Kiba back soon as I can." Kakashi told her, looking back down at her. "He or Akamaru should be able to follow her scent."

She nodded her head. "Alright. That's fine, Kakashi."

"Thanks, Kurenai." Kakashi nodded to her, turning from her and to the students. "Kiba."

Kiba looked at Kakashi curiously. "Yeah?"

"You'll be coming with me and Shikamaru." Kakashi replied, eyes on his book now.

Kiba's eyebrow rose, but he nodded nonetheless. "Alright…"

Hinata looked at Shino, then back at Kiba with concern. "B-Be careful." She softly said.

A grin came to Kiba's face as he walked over to Kakashi and Shikamaru. "There's no challenge that can beat me and Akamaru! We'll be back in no time!"

"O-Okay." She timidly pushed her index fingers together as she normally did.

"Let's go!" Kiba exclaimed excitedly, pumped up and ready for whatever 'challenge' Kakashi was going to throw his way. "I'm ready for anything!"

Kakashi lightly shook his head, reading his book as he left the training grounds with Shikamaru and Kiba. He would fill Kiba in once they'd gathered the rest of their team members.


	3. Hideout

This is chapter three!  
I hope you enjoy it!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, though it would be awesome if I did. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Only Criala and the plot of the story belong to me. **

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Criala lay on her side, curled slightly with her arm under her head. A soft sigh escaped her lips. She rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling in thought. She wondered just how she could get out of this situation, if she even could that is. The Akatsuki was known for its powerful S-rank criminals. She would never be able to escape on her own. They could kill her in an instant. Her mind drifted from how she could escape to why they grabbed her to begin with. All she knew was that she was bait to lure out the "Kyubi" which was apparently Naruto. But what compelled her was why they would choose her. What reasoning could they have to choose her for that? Itachi hadn't given her an answer when she'd asked him either, not that she was really surprised when he didn't.

"What use could I be to them?" She murmured to herself, running a hand through one of her ponytails and letting the locks fall through her fingers. After a couple times of repeating this, she stopped and traced her fingers over the cool metal of her Konoha headband, her other hand resting on her stomach. "I wonder if they've noticed yet.." Surely they had. Naruto would notice when she didn't come back to the village after a while… Right? And Kakashi would have noticed when she didn't get home… Right?

Her gaze snapped to the doorway, having been snapped from her thoughts when she heard faint footsteps coming towards the door. She watched the door from the corner of her eye to see who it was that was coming. Seconds later, Itachi walked into the room. Upon seeing that it was only Itachi, yes I know ONLY Itachi, she turned her gaze back to the ceiling. If he had something to say, he would say it.

He simply stood there, his gaze falling on her. He watched her for a moment, merely observing her. Maybe to see if she would try anything, or maybe to see if she would say anything. Who knew? No one could be sure what was going through the mind of Itachi Uchiha. His mind alone was a very dangerous and complicated thing. No one would want to know what went through his mind.

Her eyes slid closed when he showed no signs that he was going to say or do anything. She didn't think he was going to do anything to her. At least not right now anyways. They needed her. For whatever reason, they did. They couldn't very well use her for anything if she was dead, right? At least she hoped so.

The two of them were silent for a while. Itachi had made no move to speak to her and she'd made no move to speak to him. He had nothing to say apparently. Though it was getting rather irritating that he was just standing there, watching her. Oh well, she supposed.

Itachi turned away from her and left the room without a word. He knew who she was now from watching her. She was Kakashi Hatake's daughter. He recalled seeing her around the Leaf Village before he'd left. Not only did they have beat to lure the Kyubi, they had Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja's daughter. She was even more valuable to them now. They could get the Kyubi and the Copy Ninja in one swift move.

Criala glanced at the door way were Itachi had been. So he'd left without a word. That was alright. She didn't know what she'd say to him even if he had said anything. She let her eyes close, her arm resting on her stomach. Might as well try to get a bit of sleep. Luckily, she fell asleep fairly quickly.

The next time she awoke, she woke up to the sound of a man's voice. It was slightly familiar, but not very. Her eyes slowly slid open and she let out a tired groan. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, not currently remembering where she was.

"Well, sleeping beauty is finally up."

She jumped, letting out a small shriek when she looked to the side and saw the blue man in the Akatsuki known as Kisame standing only a few feet away.

The man chuckled at the reaction, smirking at her. He found how she reacted amusing. He could use it for his own entertainment later on.

She narrowed her eyes at him, scooting back until she was at the edge of the other side of the bed, almost falling off of it. She didn't dare to try to attack him though. He was in the Akatsuki. If he wanted to, he could kill her in a matter of seconds. He would most likely enjoy it too.

"I'm so scared, little girl." He chuckled again, showing no fear in the young girl. "I'm shaking in my shoes."

She didn't say anything to him. Of course he wasn't afraid of her. Why would he? He was an S-ranked criminal. And what was she? A little Genin. She wasn't even going to try to pretend she could take him on.

"Aw, no witty comeback? Wise remark?" He teased, the sadistic smirk still perched on his face.

She looked away from him, not saying anything to him again.

He gritted his teeth, placing his hand on the top of her head and forcefully turned her head so she was looking at him again. "Don't ignore me." He hissed lightly.

She winced a litte. The force of him turning her head had hurt her neck. But she didn't dare let him know that. She kept most of her winces to herself. Who knows what kind of sadistic pleasure he'd get from her pain.

"Kisame." A cold voice spoke.

Kisame looked away from Criala, not letting go of her head, to see Itachi standing in the door way. "What?"

"We need her alive." He said.

"Alive and injured?" He asked with a creepy smirk.

Itachi merely gave him a look. Kisame huffed a bit and let go of her, letting her just drop against the bed with a THUNK. "Fine." He muttered.

She winced again, this time not really wearing about letting it show. Kisame couldn't do anything to her now. At least, for the time being with Itachi there. She lifted her hand up and gently rubbed her neck, sending a quick glare Kisame's way. He didn't seem to notice. If he did, he didn't give a reaction to it.


End file.
